Your $50 iPhone Navigation App Is Almost Obsolete

HTML5 might be the future of web apps, but the new mobile standard hasn’t gotten much play in the car. TeleNav’s Scout division aims to change that with a new navigation system that offers voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions through your mobile browser. And even better, it’s free.

Scout is launching the new service today and allows developers an easy way of incorporating navigation functionality directly into existing webpages. With a single line of code, a site can provide a clickable link that automatically launches the HTML5-based mapping system, just like you would get in a full-featured standalone navigation app.

TeleNav’s goal is to nix the static map you would normally get when clicking on an address, initially partnering with Avantar’s Yellow Pages app for search, and has deals in place with AroundMe to provide local point of interest searches, Life360 for family member tracking and WedVite to give wedding attendees a one-click solution for navigating to the big day’s festivities. Additionally, you can share your destination through e-mail, SMS, Facebook and Twitter, making impromptu meet-ups that much easier.

We had the chance to sample an early version of the app through Scout.me, doing both a POI search for Thai food and followed by navigating to a home address. The setup works as advertised, but TeleNav reps are quick to point out that Scout.me is best used for short jaunts around town rather than long road trips.

Updates and rerouting take a bit longer than a native app, and voice prompts — while useful and generally well timed — override your phone’s audio, eliminating music playback when streaming over Bluetooth. We tested the web app on both an iPhone running iOS 5.1 and an Android device, and while TeleNav recommends using the service with an iPhone, it worked suitably well on our Android tester, but was slower to display instructions and had issues with voice prompts. TeleNav says an Android-optimized version is in the works. For longer trips, the free Scout app for iOS delivers a better experience, but doesn’t provide voice guidance, something TeleNav plans to include in a new premium version of the app.

Developers can use the service free of charge thanks to TeleNav’s mobile advertising scheme or can license the software for an ad-free experience. The rest of us can take the new navigation system a spin through Scout.me’s site.